Titles
by CSIsnickers101
Summary: Sara hates titles, and this particular title she hates more than most. Can Nick help her see the upside to titles? x


Disclaimer - I don't own CSI.

Titles

A/N: Me again. This idea came to me last week and wouldn't leave me. I have so many ideas that I've had for so long, except this one, but I'm slowly getting them posted. This is solely dedicated to NotJustAShadow as a massive apology for being an awful person! Hope this makes up for it. Enjoy!

"You look stressed," he stated, walking into the break room.

"Geez, Nicky, you say the nicest things," Sara pursed her lips and gave him a look.

He walked around the back of the chair she was sitting on at the table and placed his hands gently down on her shoulders. "Sorry, babe," he said softly before kissing the top of her head.

She couldn't stop the slight smile that spread across her face; she never could when he was around.

"You feeling okay?" he asked, opting to pull up a chair next to her instead of drowning himself in yet more coffee. He had a gut feeling that something wasn't quite right with her and if anyone could get her to talk it would be him.

Sara let out a sigh as she rubbed her forehead, somehow trying to iron out the stresses and strains of a hard days work. "Just tired. But there's nothing new there, is there?"

"No. But I still want to make sure you're okay," Nick explained, sensing something or someone had upset her. "You should look after yourself more."

"Honestly, I'm fine," she insisted, shifting in her seat and forcing a smile. "How has your case gone today?"

"As good as can be expected, I guess. Especially when you're telling a mother her 14 year old daughter is dead," he stated matter-of-factly with the slightest hint of sarcasm and sadness in his voice.

Sara nodded, understanding the nature of their job as only a fellow forensic scientist could. When she and Nick first started seeing each other she wondered whether the fact that they worked together would prove fatal to their attempts of romance in the long run, but in reality it was just the opposite. She had perhaps feared that they would only ever have work to talk about or that that was the only thing they really had in common but to her sheer and utter relief that wasn't the case at all.

Nick gave her a look as he tilted his head. "But don't change the subject. What's bothering you?"

Sara bit her lip and looked thoughtful as she mulled over what was going on inside her head. Nick quickly grabbed her attention again when he laid his hand down on top of hers, stopping her fingers from idly tapping on the glass table.

"Nothing. It's stupid," she insisted, shaking her head. "You know me, I'm just over thinking things."

"But I'm sure it's not as stupid as anything Greg has ever said," Nick countered, raising an eyebrow, trying to bring a smile to her face in a way only he could. "Just tell me."

Sara let out a reluctant sigh. "You're not gonna give up, are you?"

"I know you too well, Sara," Nick stated, almost smirking. "What are you thinking about?"

Sara inhaled deeply before answering. "Greg."

Nick narrowed his eyes a little and looked thoroughly perplexed as he gave Sara a puzzled look, with a hint of mischief in his eyes. "Should I be worried?"

"That's not even funny," she pursed her lips together, moving her hand away from under Nick's.

"What about Greg?" Nick wondered, getting back on the topic.

"He's really irritating."

"You've just noticed?" he smiled.

"More irritating that usual," Sara clarified.

"What's he done now?" he assumed, preparing himself for having to give there younger colleague a talking to.

"Nothing really," she shrugged. "He just won't let it go."

"Let what go?" he asked, trying his best not to get impatient at Sara's cryptic clues.

"Us. He won't let us go. He won't move on from the fact that we're together. He's always talking about it. He's driving me insane," she explained. "I know that we never talked about whether to tell everyone or not and then it just sort of happened because they guessed and we couldn't deny it but don't you ever wish that we had, that we'd just lied? Things would have been a lot less complicated."

"Maybe. But we wouldn't have been able to have such an honest and open relationship had we kept it to ourselves," he reasoned, his voice soft. "You know I wasn't that keen on not saying anything anyway. I thought it was best to get things out in the open then everyone is on the same page, and I stand by that now."

"I know you do, and most of the time I am glad that we didn't deny it but just sometimes Greg pushes too many buttons. It wouldn't be so bad if he simply couldn't get his head round the fact that we're dating, and have been for months, but it's everything else that goes with it. It's the snide comments, the teases and remarks, the innuendos. And now other people are starting to join in, giving a sly comment as we leave a room. I'm sick of it. I know they're messing around and think it's funny but it's not, not anymore. And I know that they've mostly been supportive of us and have wished us all the best which I really do appreciate but it's just everything else that I can't stand," Sara ranted.

Nick nodded in agreement as he listened to her, placing a hand down on her knee. "You know a lot, don't you?" he replied cheekily.

"I'm being serious here," she huffed, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"I don't doubt that," he insisted. "But you've just got to ignore them, especially Greg."

"I've tried but I can't," she maintained. "He just won't stop. He knows it's annoying me but he won't stop."

"You have to just focus on us, and not let him or anyone else for that matter come between us," Nick smiled sweetly, meeting her gaze.

"That makes it worse. Not only am I frustrated enough at myself for letting him get to me but I refuse to let him have the satisfaction of coming between us."

"He won't," Nick smiled, squeezing her knee gently. "We won't let him."

"Am I being harsh?" Sara frowned slightly.

"Probably," he answered honestly. "But you can't help how you feel."

"Why can't Greg see that? Why can't he just accept things have changed? You and I work together and live together, he has to accept that," she insisted.

"I suppose he would probably say he's still adjusting," Nick tried to reason with her.

"And we aren't?" Sara exclaimed. "He needs to deal with it, without making comments all the time."

"You said it, Sar, he just thinks he's being funny so I'm sure he's not purposely trying to annoy you as much as he is," he reasoned. "I'll have a word with him tomorrow if you want, get him to lay off a bit."

"How do you do it, ignore him I mean? How is he not annoying you?"

"I never said he wasn't but I'm not paying any attention to him because then he wins, doesn't he?" he raised an eyebrow as their eyes met.

Sara sighed, rubbing her face with her hand. "I know. I won't let him get to me anymore."

"He'll get over it eventually," Nick shrugged as a carefree smile took over his face.

"But do you know what I hate most?" Sara asked rhetorically. "I hate it when he calls you my boyfriend."

Nick raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I don't hate it that we're together, obviously. I hate it that they call you my boyfriend and me your girlfriend," she reassured him.

"Why? What's wrong with it?"

"I just don't like it. I don't like titles, or labels. And calling us boyfriend and girlfriend makes me feel like we're teenagers or something. I can't help it, it makes me cringe. In any case, I feel too old to be called anyone's girlfriend," she explained.

"Why didn't you say anything?" Nick wondered.

"Because it's stupid, and I know it's stupid but I can't help thinking about it like that. You have a boyfriend or a girlfriend when you're 16, not our age. Don't you agree? Or is it just me?" Sara exclaimed.

"Okay then, you don't like being called my girlfriend, that's fine. What about partner? Would you rather we were known as partners?" he suggested.

"No. That's worse," Sara insisted, without a single second of hesitation.

Nick looked thoughtful for a moment. He didn't know what next to say. Though in a way he could understand where she was coming from, being called boyfriend and girlfriend did seem a little juvenile. Or maybe it was more that those particular terms made it seem as though their relationship was important or serious. But he really couldn't have cared less, because all that mattered to Nick was being with Sara, what other people referred to them as really didn't bother him. However, he could think of one thing he wouldn't have minded they were called.

"What about wife?" Nick asked, straight faced.

"What?" Sara raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Would wife be better?" he tried to rephrase his question, though he knew that wasn't really what she meant. "Would Mrs be a better title?

"Are you asking me to...?" she trailed off, not wanting to say the words out loud.

"Yeah, I'm asking you to marry me. This isn't exactly how I'd planned on asking you but when you said you didn't like being referred to as my girlfriend then I couldn't think of anything better than wife," Nick explained, wearing his heart on his sleeve as he always did. "So what do you say?"

"Are you being serious?"

"Extremely serious. There's nothing better than being married, is there? And I for one would love more than anything to be your husband," Nick grinned.

Tears were being to well up in Sara's eyes. "I don't know what to say..."

"I'll get down on one knee if that would help," he suggested, with hopeful eyes.

"No, that doesn't matter. My answer is yes, yes of course I'll marry you," she exclaimed. "You just caught me by surprise that's all."

"Don't worry, I surprised myself. I barely knew what I was going to say until I'd said it," Nick admitted.

"Oh, well, if you don't really want to get married...," Sara mumbled, lowering her head.

"No, I do. I definitely do want to marry you, Sara," he insisted.

"Is this actually happening? Am I dreaming? How did we get from talking about Greg to… to getting engaged?" Sara wondered in despair.

"Seems like a normal conversation for us," he joked, not containing his smile.

Sara smiled brightly, letting out an almost nervous laugh as she began to lean in to seal the moment with a kiss before Nick rudely interrupted their romantic moment by speaking.

"Wait, you need a ring," he exclaimed.

"That doesn't matter right now," Sara stated. "We can work that out later."

"Hold on," Nick said, a sudden light bulb moment coming over him as he slowly removed the college ring from his finger. "May I do the honours?"

Sara grinned as she held out her left hand for her new fiancée to slide on her makeshift engagement ring.

"It's a bit big but you get the idea," Nick flashed her a wonky smile a moment prior to their lips finally meeting. They wouldn't have normally kissed in work, or show any form of affection towards each other that wasn't appropriate for the workplace, Sara was very strict about that. But in this instance they threw caution to the wind, though getting engaged was probably a decent enough excuse. She smiled against his lips as it sunk in that she'd soon have a new title, one she would never stop enjoying hearing people refer to her as. Mrs. Sara Stokes has a nice ring to it, don't you think?

Thank you for reading. More stories to come soon. Please review.


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